Frederick Douglass

Describe his escape, his writing and speeches, and his dangers.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 55

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland around 1818. As a boy he was taken to Baltimore, where a woman began teaching him the alphabet. Her husband stopped it, saying that reading would forever unfit him to be a slave.
That told Douglass exactly what he needed. Reading was a road to freedom. He traded bread to white boys for lessons and taught himself in secret.
In 1838, dressed as a sailor and carrying borrowed papers, he rode a train and boats from Baltimore to New York City.
Douglass became a famous speaker against slavery. He wrote the story of his life, naming the people who had enslaved him. That put him in danger, so he went to Britain, where friends raised money to buy his legal freedom.
He started a newspaper, The North Star. In 1852 he asked Americans a hard question: What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July? He also stood up for votes for women. Challenges never stopped him. People attacked him and turned him away, and he kept speaking.

Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:

SS4H4.a — Discuss contributions of and challenges faced by Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman.